1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to trash receptacles and more specifically to controlling electrically-powered trash compactors and receptacles for collecting solid waste.
2. Introduction
Collection of solid waste is an expensive and polluting procedure. Every day, heavy trucks are deployed to collect trash and recyclable materials. However, there is significant waste in the current collection operations. For example, collections are often made to receptacles which are not full and, in fact, are capable of holding additional waste. Many times, collections are made to receptacles that are incorrectly sized for a given route, resulting in a significant waste of time. Moreover, numerous trips are typically made by trucks to collect materials that can be greatly compacted to reduce the number of necessary trips and, consequently, the cost of the collection process.
Furthermore, the receptacles and compactors for waste and recyclables used by the current collection solutions are prone to poor utilization. As a result, high implementation, operational and service costs are incurred by the current collection solutions. For example, costly components, such as motors, batteries and various sensors and electronics, are typically used to power a compactor or a communicating device. Here, such components are not prudently applied or efficiently driven. Also, communications costs are typically high, as communications components are often not used efficiently. In some cases, costly networks are used even when free networks are otherwise available.
This problem is exacerbated by the static design and operational parameters of the current receptacles and compactors, which often prove to be inadaptable to the environment or evolving standards and practices. For example, standard receptacles and compactors are generally limited in their applicability to various types of locations and operations. As a result, current solutions are not robust, and provide limited flexibility and adaptability.